My assumption would be that Balmer simply has the board convinced he knows exactly what he's doing and anything that doesn't work out isn't his fault. It seems unlikely they have any more of a clue than Balmer does.

nin wrote on Oct 6, 2012, 15:49:I wonder who's head is going to roll when these various MS products don't catch on. And how the fuck does Balmer still hang in there? Amazed the shareholders haven't booted him yet.

He probably has the confidence of the rest of the board, so the board keeps telling shareholders "If you can Balmer, we ALL walk!" (either that or he has dirt on all of them...)

And it's kind of rough to have a company the size of MS and suddenly have the entire board of directors walk out the door. Stocks would plummet if that happened, so the shareholders stay quiet for fear of more losses.